Easter Eggs and False Teeth

First an update, now that I got your attention with that title. If you have followed my computer saga, you will appreciate this. I came home tonight and decided to deal with my dead laptop. The “Genius'” at the Apple store declared it DOA and refunded my money to transfer all my data. I sadly opened the case, pushed the button and it merrily chimed. But that doesn’t mean anything since in the not so distant past, it would then sit and spin forever. Tonight, it came to life. I plugged in my external hard drive and it happily backed up everything. Whatever those Genius’ did, it worked!

After a few frantic phone calls, Wilson started to piece together the riddle. His mom, Mary, appeared to have lost her teeth. She claimed they had gone missing some three weeks ago, but Wilson was convinced this was a recent occurrence. His sister insisted she would have noticed at the St. Paddy’s Day Dinner if Ma’s teeth weren’t in. I tried to think if she had them at the past few dinners we had shared; would I have noticed since she was glowing, engaged and interesting?  Did she have her teeth in?  Not a clue.

“That’s it Ma! You’re hiding your own eggs this Easter!” proclaimed Wilson. He was exasperated from trying to recount their travels over the past 48 hours in search of  the spot her teeth might be waiting.  I don’t claim to understand the connection between Easter eggs and her teeth. I’m just reporting the facts here.

Beyond Easter Eggs and missing teeth, it has been a week of wrapping your head around the realities of life. When an eighty-five year old woman asks to split wood, because “I want to feel how that is again.” Do you deny her? What’s the worst case, it kills her??”

She has become mentally sharper and physically more agile as she strives to keep up with her son in his daily routine of splitting and stacking wood, pruning an apple orchard and visiting friends. Her appetite is hearty and she is sleeping through the night with no anxiety attacks. Wilson is flagging a bit from the responsibility but it’s obvious he adores her and would move heaven and earth to keep her with him, Meanwhile the state agencies continue to circle like sharks smelling blood in the water. They have ordered psychological tests on both, sent in home health aids to observe his care of her, and constantly remind the two of them that in their opinion, the best place for Mary would be in an assisted living situation.

I can’t help wonder what life was like prior to all the bureaucracy and red-tape. People took care of their own and families were made up of generations working together. Have we advanced to the state that a son can no longer have a say in how his mother is cared for?

The teeth were eventually found. Mary must have removed them and left them on a table within reach of Wilson’s dog, Slinky. Slinks hid them behind the wood stove like some treasure she was hoarding for a later date. Maybe Slinky should be in charge of hiding the Easter Eggs?